Bottle closure



Jan. 24, 1928. 1,657,409

F. K. PLYMPTON BOTTLE CLOSURE Filed Aug. 14, 1924 I JVE J U F W; K W WPatented Jan. 24, 1928.

UNITED, STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERIG K. PLYMPTON, OF BREWSTER, NEW YORK, ASSIGNQR. T0. NAOMI ID.PLYMPTON, F SOUT HPORT, CONNECTICUT.

nor'rnn CLOSURE.

Application filed August 14,1924. Serial No. 732,017.

The invention relates to closures for sealing milk bottles and the like,and more particularly to closures of the class in which a closureconsists of athin disk of paper material having a leaf-like tab orhandle which is taken hold of and pulled upon in effecting removal ofthe disk from the seat to which it has been applied in the mouth of abottle.

or ar.

In some instances the lifting tab or handle is integral with thematerial of the disk, being formed by cutting partially through the diskaround the outline of the" tab or handle, then horizontally splittingthe material so as to separatethe tab orhandle from the underlyingportion of the disk except at the outer end of the tab or handle, andthen pressing the tab or handle back into place. In other instances atab or ha-ndl'e formed as a separate piece is attachedto the disk. Thus,in the case of one form a recess is formed in the upper side of thedisk, and a tab or handle formed as a separate piece is placed in suchrecess. In all those instances, a staple or the like is set in theclosure at the outer end of the tab or handie, in the first instances toserve as a reinforce for the tab or handle-to guard against it beingentirely torn away when pulled upon, and in the latter instances tofasten the tab or handle to the disk at such end.

A serious drawback or disadvantage in the case of such closuresheretofore has been the tendency oi the staple to tear out of the diskwhile the tab or handle is beingpulled u on to extract the closure fromthe seat to w ich it has been applied in the mouth of a jar or bottle.In many cases, this ten-dency is due in part to the fact that only aportion of the thickness of the material of the disk underlies the tabor handle; and is increased by the weakening of such portion as a resultof the latter being partially out through by the clinched extremities ofthe limbs of the fastening staple. In practies the said extremities havebeen clinched at the under side of the disk, in the thinned portion ofthe disk immediately beneath the tab or handle. The said thinned portionhas had to take the entire strain of the pull, and has frequently failedto meet the requirements, especially after having become reinforce thetab or handle by providing :tor

distributing the strain in extracting a closure so that in large part itshall be withstoodby the portions of the disk at opposite sldes of thetab or handle.

The invention consists in a closure of the class aforesaid having astaple set at the attach ng end of the tabor handle, with the l mbs ofthe staple passed through from one iace to the other of the closure,then extended laterally beyond the sides of the tabor handle, and thenanchored to the material of the. disk at. points spaced laterally outWard from the side-margins of the tab or handle.

Illustrative embodiments of the invention are shown in the drawings, inwhich latter,

Fig. 1 1s a top View of one of such embodiments.

Fig; 2, is a bottom View thereof.

Fig.2 3. is a View in section: on line 3, 3, of

Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a top view of a second embodiment.

Fig. 5 is a bottom: view thereof.

Fig. 6 is a view in section on line 6, 6', of

- Fig.

I is the camper closure of disk form, 2 in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 is a liftingtab or handle lntegral with the material of the disk and formed bycutting partially through the body of the disk along the outline of thetab or handle, and then horizontally splitting the tab or handle portionand pressing the same back Into its original position. 3 indicates thehorseshoe out forming the outline of the; tab, 4 is the closed portion,i. e., head or bridge portion, of the staple, said portion being locatedat and extending crosswise with relation to the attaching port-ion ofthe handle, while the limbs 5, 5, of the said staple pass through thedisk at the base ing within the outline of the tab and with the limbs onthe botom of the closure extending outwardly in relation thereto, it 15evident that the relative positions of the parts of the staple may bevaried from the construction shown.

In order to facilitate the use of the closures in capping machinespreferably the closure is compressed in order that the sta ple may beeither wholly or partially imbedded in the disk in which case thismethod of reinforcing the tab is particularly effective as the pullingstrain takes place pri-.

marily on the bottom of the closure against the full thickness of thelatter as the clinched end only lies over a small portion of the bottomlimb and consequently the closure where the strain is exerted is notweakened by the cutting or scoring of the closure by two thicknesses ofwire.

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 show another common form of closure to which theinvention is shown applied. 1 is the disk having a cut away portion 7forming a recess in the thickness of the disk in which the handle or tab8 lies. This handle or tab is attached to the disk by means of thestaple 9 the limbs of which 10, 10 pass thru the handle and the materialof the disk and extend on the bottom of the disk to points within theperiphery where they again pass through the disk to the upper surfacewhere they are clinched. In the drawings the points where the limbsagain pass through the disk to the upper surface lie outside the cutaway recess in the upper surface, of the closure in order that thepulling strain may be resisted by the entire thickness of the disk. Thisis a particularly valuable feature of the invention for as this type of.cap is commonly made the tab is applied or attached to the disk bydriving a staple through it and the weakened cut away recessed portion.of the disk and clinching the limbs of the same inwardly on the botomof the disk. It will be apparent that this materiallyweakens the holdingcapacity of the tab when strain is applied to it in removing the diskfrom the bottle in which it has been seated.

The various views of the drawings clearly illustrate the importantfeature which has been mentioned, that in conformity with the inventionthe limbs of the fastening staple are in anchoring engagement with thematerial of the disk at points spaced laterally outward from theside-margins of the tab or handle, the advantage being that thethickness of the disk, at the opposite sides of the tab or handle, isutilized to withstand the pulling strain when the tab or handle ispulled upon in extracting the closure from a jar or bottle.

In the drawings the extremities of the limbs of the fastening staple areshown turned toward each other so that they overlie the outwardlyextending portions of the staple limbs at the back or underside of thedisk. Ordinarily this relation of portions of a staple at opposite facesof a disk is un desirable since when the staple is impressed intothethickness of the material of the disk to facilitate the use of theclosure in a capping machine, the effective strength of the intermediateportion of the disk is reduced. However, it will be perceived that theeffect of locating the different portions of the staple at the oppositesides of the disk in the relation described, is minimized in the case ofmy invention. The extremities 6, 6, Figs. 1 and 3, and 11, 11, Figs. 4and 6, may be otherwise disposed in practice if desired.

I claim:

1. A bottle closure having a recess in its upper side, a lifting taboccupying such recess, and a reinforcing member in the form of a staplewith its closed portion lying at the base of the lifting tab with itslimbs passing through the material of the closure within the width ofsaid tab and extending on the bottom of the closure laterally to pointswithin its periphery outside the width of the tab, again passing throughthe closure to the upper surface where the ends are clinched.

2. A bottle closure having a lifting tab which is formed by thehorizontal splitting and raising of a portion of the same, one edgeforming a hinge, in combination with a wire staple having its limbsdriven through the body of the closure at the hinge ed e of thetab, thesaid limbs extending on the bottom of the closure to oints within theperiphery laterally beyon the sides of the recess occupied by said tab,and passing again through the body of the closure to the upper surfaceand clinched.

3. A bottle closure having a liftin tab which is formed by thehorizontal splitting and raising of a portion of the same, one edgeforming a hinge, in combination with a wire staple, the closed portionof which lies at the base of the tab with its limbs passing through thebody of the closure within the outline of the tab to the other surfaceof the closure and extending laterally thereon to points outside theoutline of the tab where they again pass through the body of the closureto the first surface where the ends are clinched.

f. A bottle closure comprisin a thin disk, a leaf-like lifting handle,and a staple having its head or bridge portion located at and extendingcrosswise relative to the attaching portion of the handle, the saidstaple having its limbs passed through the closure at the said attachingportion, with the extremities of the said limbs extended in oppositedirections and in anchoring engagement with the disk at points spacedlatill) eraly outward from the side-margins of the dle with said limbsextended on the bottom said handle. of the closure to points outside therecess 10 5. A bottle closure comprising a thin disk and passed throughthe disk to the upper having a recess in the upper surface theresurfacethereof and clinched.

5 of, and a liftin handle occupying the re- In testimony whereof Ihereunto afiix my cess, and in com hination therewith a staplesignature. having the limbs thereof passed through the closure at theattaching portion of the han- FREDERIC K. PLYMPTON.

